1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for holding shower articles routinely used in bathroom showers. More particularly, the invention relates to a device utilizing retractable cords and removable clips as an aide to assist in storage of bathing/shower products such as shampoo, conditioner, body lotions, face wash, and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
A wide variety of holders or shower caddies for providing additional storage space for shower articles such as shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, tooth paste, and the like used in showers is known in the prior art. One type of shower caddy is designed to be hung on the shower enclosure panel or door. Another type of shower caddy is designed to be hung on a shower arm, or pipe of shower head. Most shower caddies are rigid plastic trays or wire racks. They all share the same shortcomings of being rigid and bulky. Therefore, they are not easily foldable or portable. Typical examples are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,131 to Sussman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,067 to Conaway et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,351 to Zadro; U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,790 to Zadro; U.S. Pat. No. 7,770,742 to Wagner et al. and U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2008/0290055 to Perkovich.
To overcome these shortcomings, U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,346 to Hodges, Jr. discloses shower accessories comprising means for suspending the device from a shower head, a plurality of ropes connected to the suspending means, and fastening means for holding the shower articles to the ends of the ropes opposite the retaining means. The suspending means may be a loop of rubber or plastic or other suitable material which will grip the neck pipe of a shower head. The fastening means may be hooks or other fasteners suitable for detachably retaining bottles or tubes of shampoo, soap, lotion, etc. or other shower articles. In practice, specially designed tubes or bottles having a loop extending from the end of the tube or bottle opposite the cap may be used to contain the shampoo, soap, etc. A recognized problem with this invention is that it does not hold shampoo or conditioner in their original containers because original shampoo or conditioner bottles normally do not have a loop on the bottom to be hung on the hook of this accessory. Specially designed tubes or bottles having a loop extending from the end of the tube or bottle opposite the cap need to be used.
In addition, normally, after applying shampoo, a user may close eyes to avoid water or shampoo dripping into eyes. To put the shampoo back to the shower caddy or holder with eyes closed can be both inconvenient and annoying. Formerly there were no existing shower caddies or holders that solve this problem.
As a result, a need exists for a device for holding shower articles that is compact, lightweight, foldable, portable, and can suspend shower articles in their original containers in a bottom up position. Moreover, the device can suspend shower articles in a way that the user can simply grab the shower articles, use them and let go of the shower articles. The user need not remove the shower articles from the shower caddy for use and place them back after use.